January 04, 2010

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle:

A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 23 comments

Strange how three of next weeks NFL playoff games are rematches of games played this past weekend.

posted by dyams at 06:06 AM on January 04, 2010

Hopefully they'll be more exciting than they were this week.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 09:11 AM on January 04, 2010

Yea, that is very odd. I guess you could argue it could be common since the NFL tries to get their marquee division matchups the last week of the season (like Eagles vs Cowboys) so one being a wildcard might mean meeting again the following week....but 2 of the 3 games are interconference which makes it more odd.

I believe they'll be more exciting this week because I think all teams were sort of not wanting to show their hand realizing the potential of meeting these guys again (if not this week then shortly after). For example, you know Cinci didn't show NYJ anything remotely similar to a polished gameplan since they had nothing to play for.

posted by bdaddy at 09:30 AM on January 04, 2010

And the 4th game is a rematch of a game earlier in the season

posted by kokaku at 09:38 AM on January 04, 2010

I found this article from SI about the non-BCS schools playing in the BCS bowl game interesting, but I still find it odd that the 2 non BCS school are facing each other.

Personally I believe it because the BCS conferences didn't want to risk having 2 of their schools upset by a non-BCS school. It was embarrassing enough when Boise won a couple of years back, how bad would it be if it happened twice in the same year? The easiest way to avoid that was to not let a non-BCS school play a BCS school.

posted by Demophon at 10:50 AM on January 04, 2010

Personally I believe it because the BCS conferences didn't want to risk having 2 of their schools upset by a non-BCS school.

I could not agree more. I was pissed when i saw that Boise and TCU would be playing each other. It is the biggest BCS cop out in years. Instead of letting these 2 non-BCS teams take a shot at the big boys(which after Bosie beat Oklahoma a few years ago would draw big TV ratings IMO) They get to play a game that is being mostly ignored because no one wants to be shown up by an unimportant NON-BCS team. WHAT A JOKE!!!

Say it with me everyone PLAYOFFS PLAYOFFS PLAYOFFS

posted by Debo270 at 11:26 AM on January 04, 2010

It has been decided after 17 weeks. THe Broncos are not that good. Now we know. I remember a fight about this in week 4-5

posted by Debo270 at 11:33 AM on January 04, 2010

Personally I believe it because the BCS conferences didn't want to risk having 2 of their schools upset by a non-BCS school.

Pitting TCU against Boise State means two undefeated teams will come out of BCS bowl games. If the BCS was scheduling games to make itself look good, wouldn't it be better to see TCU and Boise State get stomped by BCS schools the way Florida massacred Cincinnati?

posted by rcade at 11:59 AM on January 04, 2010

It has been decided after 17 weeks. THe Broncos are not that good. Now we know. I remember a fight about this in week 4-5

Their coach is shockingly childish. Why does he have to make every disagreement with his own players public?

posted by bperk at 12:18 PM on January 04, 2010

If the BCS was scheduling games to make itself look good, wouldn't it be better to see TCU and Boise State get stomped by BCS schools the way Florida massacred Cincinnati?

TCU and Bosie are a better team then Cincy. I think either would have a very good chance against a Ga. Tech, or Iowa. I really beleive they fear another Bosie/Oklahoma embarrassment.

posted by Debo270 at 01:39 PM on January 04, 2010

So much for the "Favre's late-season collapse" idea. He finished the season with a QB ratings of 106.4 against the Bears and 148.7 against the Giants, and his rating for the season was 107.2, the highest of his career.

I also hope this is the end of the talk of a rift between Favre and Childress. If they keep doing what they've been doing since halftime of the Bears game, the Vikings should do OK in the playoffs.

posted by kirkaracha at 02:31 PM on January 04, 2010

Pitting TCU against Boise State means two undefeated teams will come out of BCS bowl games. If the BCS was scheduling games to make itself look good, wouldn't it be better to see TCU and Boise State get stomped by BCS schools the way Florida massacred Cincinnati?

I believe that they felt risk of having 2 BCS teams lose would be out weighed by having a non-BCS undefeated team. As we have already seen, they are more than willing to let that happen to Utah and Boise State in the past (probably to other teams too, but these are the ones that jump to mind) and write off the non-BCS undefeated team as irrelevant because they are a non-BCS team.

posted by Demophon at 03:43 PM on January 04, 2010

Yea, that is very odd. I guess you could argue it could be common since the NFL tries to get their marquee division matchups the last week of the season (like Eagles vs Cowboys) so one being a wildcard might mean meeting again the following week....but 2 of the 3 games are interconference which makes it more odd.

I believe they'll be more exciting this week because I think all teams were sort of not wanting to show their hand realizing the potential of meeting these guys again (if not this week then shortly after). For example, you know Cinci didn't show NYJ anything remotely similar to a polished gameplan since they had nothing to play for.

posted by bdaddy at 09:30 AM on January 04

This may have been the case in some of these games but not all them. Why would filthydelphia shegirls not show their hand when they have a chance to win the #2 seed and a bye plus a homegame? they were just plain out dominated by the better team this past week.

posted by twgibsr at 03:57 PM on January 04, 2010

Why would filthydelphia shegirls not show their hand when they have a chance to win the #2 seed and a bye plus a homegame?


I get it, Philadelphia is a dirty town, and you think referring to someone as a she, or girl, is a put down ?

Is that it, do I understand you correctly ?

posted by tommybiden at 04:26 PM on January 04, 2010

Their coach is shockingly childish. Why does he have to make every disagreement with his own players public?

Look who his mentor is. And look who his mentor's mentor was. 3 very much "my way or the highway" type guys. And when you take those drastic "highway" actions (suspend him from a game, send them home for being late), at that point it becomes "public" when you have to answer questions about it.

As to whether it's affective..it reminds me of the old saying that an ex-player once said about a hardass coach: "you can love a dog, treat it with respect, pet it every time it does something good...and that dog will love you and do whatever you want. Or you can lock your dog outside, kick it every time it does something bad...and that dog will love you and do whatever you want".

posted by bdaddy at 06:44 PM on January 04, 2010

Adam Morrison gets a steal that won't show up on the scoresheet.

Adam Morrison showing up on the scoresheet is cause enough for celebration.

posted by dfleming at 07:28 PM on January 04, 2010

Look who his mentor is. And look who his mentor's mentor was. 3 very much "my way or the highway" type guys. And when you take those drastic "highway" actions (suspend him from a game, send them home for being late), at that point it becomes "public" when you have to answer questions about it.

I feel that McDaniels is not nearly good at managing his players as his mentor was. My way or the highway is fine as long as you get results and the Broncos tanked big time. Perhaps the reasoning was justified, but I feel that McDaniels arrogance could've been a big factor in why the Broncos were missing one of the best receivers in the game and their starting tight end during their most important game of the season.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 07:41 PM on January 04, 2010

OK, watching the TCU/Boise game and if the Boise uniform pants aren't the worst ever, I don't know whose are. Butt stripes? Are you kidding me?

posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:35 PM on January 04, 2010

I love TCU's helmets and pants. Boise State's butt stripes are something else.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 11:13 PM on January 04, 2010

Why would Philly not show their hand when they have a chance to win the #2 seed and a bye plus a homegame

I think once they got behind they figured it made more sense to wait for the rematch than to expose any new plays/formations. We didn't see much of Vick in the game, I bet we'll see some new formations this week.

Butt stripes? Are you kidding me?

Stripes aside, I do like their blue helmets, and that fake punt was a heck of a call.

posted by dviking at 12:34 AM on January 05, 2010

Look who his mentor is. And look who his mentor's mentor was.

I've never seen Belichick or Parcells get all fist-pumpy on the sidelines. And I find it hard to discern Parcells' influence on Josh McDaniels.

posted by yerfatma at 06:13 AM on January 05, 2010

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